U.S. patent application number 13/173823 was filed with the patent office on 2013-01-03 for fleet tracking method using unicast and multicast communication.
Invention is credited to Darryl V. Collins, Bryan J. Everett, Craig L. KOEHRSEN.
Application Number | 20130002455 13/173823 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47390083 |
Filed Date | 2013-01-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130002455 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KOEHRSEN; Craig L. ; et
al. |
January 3, 2013 |
FLEET TRACKING METHOD USING UNICAST AND MULTICAST COMMUNICATION
Abstract
A method of tracking a fleet of machines operating at a common
worksite is disclosed. The method may include receiving at a
central controller an unacknowledged message from communicating
devices onboard the fleet of machines, the unacknowledged message
including a current location of each of the fleet of machines
determined by locating devices onboard the fleet of machines. The
method may also include updating a location listing of the fleet of
machines with the current location, and repetitively multicasting
the location listing to the communicating devices.
Inventors: |
KOEHRSEN; Craig L.; (East
Peoria, IL) ; Collins; Darryl V.; (Jindalee, AU)
; Everett; Bryan J.; (Peoria, IL) |
Family ID: |
47390083 |
Appl. No.: |
13/173823 |
Filed: |
June 30, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
340/989 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07C 5/008 20130101;
G08G 1/20 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
340/989 |
International
Class: |
G08G 1/123 20060101
G08G001/123 |
Claims
1. A method of tracking a fleet of machines, comprising: receiving
at a central controller an unacknowledged message from
communicating devices onboard the fleet of machines that includes a
current location of each of the fleet of machines determined by
locating devices onboard the fleet of machines; updating a location
listing of the fleet of machines with the current location; and
repetitively multicasting the location listing to the communicating
devices.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the unacknowledged
message includes repetitively receiving the unacknowledged
message.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein repetitively multicasting the
location listing includes repetitively multicasting the location
listing at a first frequency greater than a second frequency at
which the unacknowledged message is repetitively received.
4. The method of claim 3, further including determining that a
particular machine of the fleet of machines is out of contact when
the unacknowledged message has not been received for at least a
threshold period of time.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message includes: repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message at the second frequency when an associated
machine of the fleet of machines is traveling at a speed less than
a threshold speed; and repetitively receiving the unacknowledged
message includes repetitively receiving the unacknowledged message
at a frequency that increases with an increasing travel speed of
the associated machine that is faster than the threshold speed.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message includes repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message at a frequency that increases with a
decreasing proximity of the associated machine to another machine
of the fleet of machines.
7. The method of claim 3, further including determining a long-term
communication status for each machine based on comparison of an
actual frequency of receiving the unacknowledged message for each
machine and an expected frequency.
8. The method of claim 7, further including determining that the
unacknowledged message was correctly received based on the location
listing subsequently multicast to the fleet of machines.
9. The method of claim 8, further including causing a communicating
device to immediately send another unacknowledged message relaying
the current location of an associated machine of the fleet of
machines when it is determined that the unacknowledged message was
not correctly received.
10. The method of claim 9, further including: determining that a
particular machine of the fleet of machines is out of contact when
the unacknowledged message has not been received for at least at
threshold period of time; and responsively causing the
communicating device to immediately send another unacknowledged
message relaying the current location.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein repetitively multicasting the
location listing further includes repetitively multicasting the
long-term communication status for each machine of the fleet of
machines.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein: determining the long-term
communication status for a particular machine of the fleet of
machines includes determining that the particular machine is off
for at least a threshold amount of time; and the method further
includes omitting the current location of the particular machine in
the location listing when the long-term communication status is
determined to be off.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the location listing further
includes locations of stationary infrastructure at a common
worksite.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein repetitively multicasting the
location listing to the communicating devices includes repetitively
multicasting the location listing to the communicating devices
associated with only machines of the fleet of machines located
within a particular region of the worksite.
15. A method of tracking a fleet of machines, comprising:
repetitively receiving at a central controller and at a first
frequency an unacknowledged message from communicating devices
onboard the fleet of machines that includes a current location of
each of the fleet of machines determined by locating devices
onboard the fleet of machines; updating a location listing of the
fleet of machines with the current location; and repetitively
multicasting at a second frequency less than the first frequency
the location listing to the communicating devices, wherein
repetitively receiving the unacknowledged message includes:
repetitively receiving the unacknowledged message at the second
frequency when an associated machine of the fleet of machines is
traveling at a speed less than a threshold speed; repetitively
receiving the unacknowledged message at a frequency that increases
with at least one of an increasing travel speed of the associated
machine that is faster than the threshold speed and a decreasing
proximity of the associated machine to another machine of the fleet
of machines.
16. A method of tracking a fleet of machines, comprising:
repetitively receiving at a central controller an unacknowledged
message from communicating devices onboard the fleet of machines
from different regions of a worksite, each of the messages
including a current location of each of the fleet of machines
determined by locating devices onboard the fleet of machines;
updating a plurality of different location listings of the fleet of
machines with the current location; and repetitively multicasting
the plurality of different location listings to particular
communicating devices based on co-location of the associated
machines within particular regions of the worksite.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein repetitively multicasting the
location listing includes repetitively multicasting the location
listing at a first frequency greater than a second frequency at
which the unacknowledged message is repetitively received.
18. The method of claim 17, further including determining that a
particular machine of the fleet of machines is out of contact when
the unacknowledged message has not been received for at least a
threshold period of time.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message includes: repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message at the second frequency when an associated
machine of the fleet of machines is traveling at a speed less than
a threshold speed; and repetitively receiving the unacknowledged
message includes repetitively receiving the unacknowledged message
at a frequency that increases with an increasing travel speed of
the associated machine that is faster than the threshold speed.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message includes repetitively receiving the
unacknowledged message at a frequency that increases with a
decreasing proximity of the associated machine to another machine
of the fleet of machines.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to a tracking
method, and more particularly, to a fleet tracking method using
unicast and multicast communication.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Mobile machines such as haul trucks, scrapers, wheel
loaders, and other types of heavy machinery are used to perform a
variety of tasks. During the performance of these tasks, the
machines often operate in conjunction with a limited resource, for
example a haul road, a loading machine such as an excavator or
front shovel, or a processing machine such as a crusher or screen.
When operating in conjunction with a limited resource, operation of
a mobile machine relative to the resource and to other mobile
machines competing for the same resource should be carefully
managed to avoid machine collisions and to increase profit. The
need to properly manage the machines can become even more important
when the machines are autonomously or semi-autonomously
controlled.
[0003] Historically, each machine would determine its own position
at the worksite, and relay this position to a central computer. The
central computer, after receiving a position message from a
particular machine, would then confirm receipt of the message with
a return message to that machine. The machine sending the original
message would then check the returned confirmation message to make
sure that the original message had been properly sent and received,
and send an additional message if any errors in transmission were
detected. When confirmation of the original message is made by both
the machine and the central computer, the central computer would
update a map at the worksite, and relay the map to the machine that
sent the original message for use in controlling the machine.
Similar confirmation messages regarding transmission of the map
would then be generated. Although adequate for some applications,
the number of messages sent between machines and the central
computer were excessive and required large transmission bandwidths
and computing power at the worksite.
[0004] An alternative method for communicating messages is
described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,159 (the '159 patent) issued to
Schmier et al. on Dec. 21, 1999. In particular the '159 patent
describes a public transit vehicle arrival information system. The
system includes global position determining devices located in
different public transportation vehicles for determining the
locations of the vehicles along their defined routes. A central
computer is coupled to the global position determining devices for
receiving the locations of the vehicles therefrom. The computer is
programmed to compute and update from the present locations, a
transit data table. The transit data table is then made available
for public access via pagers, notebooks, computers, and
telephones.
[0005] Although the system of the '159 patent may be able to
receive and transmit location information with a reduced number of
messages, it may still be less than optimal. In particular, the
system of the '159 patent may be unable to ensure that reliable
information is received from and relayed to particular users of the
system at a desired frequency. Without this functionality, the
system of the '159 patent may not be applicable to fleet operations
where machine control can be affected by the information.
[0006] The disclosed tracking method is directed to overcoming one
or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of
the prior art.
SUMMARY
[0007] In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a
method of tracking a fleet of machines. The method may include
receiving at a central controller an unacknowledged message from
communicating devices onboard the fleet of machines, the
unacknowledged message including a current location of each of the
fleet of machines determined by locating devices onboard the fleet
of machines. The method may also include updating a location
listing of the fleet of machines with the current location, and
repetitively multicasting the location listing to the communicating
devices.
[0008] In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to
another method of tracking a fleet of machines. This method may
include repetitively receiving at a central controller an
unacknowledged message from communicating devices onboard the fleet
of machines from different regions of a worksite, each of the
messages including a current location of each of the fleet of
machines determined by locating devices onboard the fleet of
machines. The method may further include updating a plurality of
different location listings of the fleet of machines with the
current location, and repetitively multicasting the location
listings to the communicating devices of different machines of the
fleet of machines based on co-location within particular regions of
the worksite.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a pictorial illustration of an exemplary disclosed
worksite;
[0010] FIG. 2 is pictorial illustration of an exemplary disclosed
tracking system that may be used at the worksite of FIG. 1; and
[0011] FIGS. 3-4 are communication charts depicting exemplary
operations performed by the tracking system of FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary worksite 10 having multiple,
simultaneously-operable machines 12 performing a variety of
predetermined tasks. Worksite 10 may include, for example, a mine
site, a landfill, a quarry, a construction site, or any other type
of worksite known in the art. The predetermined tasks may be
associated with altering the current geography at worksite 10 and
include a clearing operation, a leveling operation, a hauling
operation, a digging operation, a loading operation, or any other
type of operation that functions to alter the current geography at
worksite 10.
[0013] Worksite 10 may include multiple locations designated for
particular purposes. For example, a first location 14 may be
designated as a load location at which a mobile loading machine 12a
or other resource operates to fill multiple mobile haul machines
12b with material. For the purposes of this disclosure, a resource
may be defined as a worksite asset shared by multiple machines for
the completion of an assigned task. A second location 16 may be
designated as a dump location at which machines 12b discard their
payloads. Machines 12b may follow a travel path 18 that generally
extends between load and dump locations 14, 16. One or more other
mobile dozing or grading machines 12c at worksite 10 may be tasked
with clearing or leveling load location 14, dump location 16,
and/or travel path 18 such that travel by other machines 12 at
these locations may be possible. As machines 12 operate at worksite
10, the shapes, dimensions, and general positions of load location
14, dump location 16, and travel path 18 may change. Machines 12
may be self-directed machines configured to autonomously traverse
the changing terrain of worksite 10, manned machines configured to
traverse worksite 10 under the control of an operator, or
semi-autonomous machines configured to perform some functions
autonomously and other functions under the control of an operator.
In the disclosed embodiment, at least some of machines 12 at
worksite 10 are autonomously or semi-autonomously controlled.
[0014] As shown in FIG. 2, each machine 12 may be equipped with a
control module 20 that facilitates or enhances autonomous and/or
human control of machine 12. Control module 20 may include, among
other things, a locating device 22, a communicating device 24, and
an onboard controller (OC) 26 connected to locating device 22 and
communicating device 24. When intended for use with a manually
operated machine 12, control module 20 may also include one or more
operator interface devices 28. Operator interface devices 28 may
include, for example, an input device such as a joystick, keyboard,
steering wheel, pedal, lever, button, switch, etc. Alternatively or
additionally, operator interface devices 28 may include a display
device such as a monitor, if desired.
[0015] Locating device 22 may be configured to determine a position
of machine 12 and generate a position signal indicative thereof.
Locating device 22 could embody, for example, a Global Positioning
System (GPS) device configured to interact with an array of
satellites 30 (only one shown in FIG. 2), an Inertial Reference
Unit (IRU), a local tracking system, or any other known locating
device that receives or determines positional information
associated with machine 12. Locating device 22 may be configured to
convey a signal indicative of the received or determined positional
information to OC 26 for processing. It is contemplated that the
position signal may also be directed to one or more of interface
devices 28 (e.g., to the monitor) for display of machine location
in an electronic representation (i.e., a map) of worksite 10, if
desired.
[0016] Communicating device 24 may include hardware and/or software
that enables sending of data messages between OC 26 and an offboard
central controller (OCC) 32. OCC 32, together with each control
module 20 of machines 12, may embody a tracking system 34. The data
messages associated with tracking system 34 may be sent and
received via a direct data link and/or a wireless communication
link, as desired. The direct data link may include an Ethernet
connection, a connected area network (CAN), or another data link
known in the art. The wireless communications may include
satellite, cellular, infrared, and any other type of wireless
communications that enable communicating device 24 to exchange
information between OCC 32 and the components of control module
20.
[0017] Based on information from locating device 22 and/or
instructions from OCC 32, each OC 26 may be configured to help
regulate movements and/or operations of its associated machine 12
(e.g., direct movement of associated traction devices, work tools,
and/or actuators; and operations of associated engines and/or
transmissions). OC 26 may be configured to autonomously control
these movements and operations or, alternatively, provide
instructions to a human operator of machine 12 regarding
recommended control. OC 26 may also be configured to send
operational information associated with components of machine 12
offboard to OCC 32 via communicating device 24, if desired. This
information may include, for example, the coordinates of machine
12, a traction device speed and/or orientation, tool and/or
actuator positions, communication and/or operational status
information (e.g., turned off, inactive, etc.), and other
information known in the art.
[0018] OC 26 may embody a single or combination of multiple
microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital
signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are capable of controlling
operations of machine 12 in response to operator requests, built-in
constraints, sensed operational parameters, and/or communicated
instructions from OCC 32. Various known circuits may be associated
with these components, including power supply circuitry,
signal-conditioning circuitry, actuator driver circuitry (i.e.,
circuitry powering solenoids, motors, or piezo actuators), and
communication circuitry.
[0019] OCC 32 may include any means for monitoring, recording,
storing, indexing, processing, and/or communicating various
operational aspects of work worksite 10 and machines 12. These
means may include components such as, for example, a memory, one or
more data storage devices, a central processing unit, or any other
components that may be used to run an application. Furthermore,
although aspects of the present disclosure may be described
generally as being stored in memory, one skilled in the art will
appreciate that these aspects can be stored on or read from
different types of computer program products or computer-readable
media such as computer chips and secondary storage devices,
including hard disks, floppy disks, optical media, CD-ROM, or other
forms of RAM or ROM.
[0020] OCC 32 may be configured to execute instructions stored on
computer readable medium to perform methods of tracking the
movement and status of machines 12 at worksite 10. That is, as
described above, the operation of machines 12 may cause changes to
the geography of worksite 10 and, in order for machines 12,
particularly those machines that are autonomously or
semi-autonomously controlled, to adapt to the changing geography
and/or to the movement of other machines 12 at worksite 10, the
travel and status of each machine 12 should be carefully tracked
and communicated to all machines 12. OCC 32 may execute
instructions to perform a method of tracking that involves
receiving frequently repeated unicast messages from individual
machines 12, updating a location listing of all machines 12 at
worksite 10 based on the unicast messages, and frequently
multicasting the updated location listing to all machines 12. In
the disclosed embodiment, few, if any, of the unicast multicast
messages may be acknowledged by either individual machines 12 or by
OCC 32, thereby providing for a reduction in required communication
bandwidth and/or computing power.
[0021] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate exemplary operations performed by
tracking system 34. FIGS. 3 and 4 will be described more in the
following section to further illustrate the disclosed concepts.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0022] The disclosed tracking system may be applicable to any
venture where a fleet of machines operate together at a common
worksite. Although applicable to any type of machine, the disclosed
control system may be particularly applicable to autonomously or
semi-autonomously controlled machines where the machines are at
least partially controlled to follow a particular travel path
and/or perform a particular function. The disclosed system may
track the movement and status of each individual machine,
repetitively update this information, and multicast the updated
information to all machines at the worksite. In this manner,
decisions regarding control of the machines can be based on a
continuous flow of reliable information.
[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, each machine 12 may repetitively send
(i.e., send at substantially regular intervals), via communicating
device 24, a position message to OCC 32 providing OCC 32 with a
current position of machine 12 at worksite 10. In some embodiments,
the position message may also include identification of machine 12
(e.g., identification number, type, size, payload, etc.) and a
communication and/or operational status of machine 12. The position
messages may be sent at intervals having a minimum frequency, for
example every 2 seconds (shown in the lower-left side of the chart
in FIG. 3 corresponding with the first 7 seconds of tracked
messages). It is contemplated, however, that a speed of machine 12
may have an effect on the frequency of the messages sent from
machines 12 to OCC 32. That is, the frequency may increase in
relation to an increasing speed of machine 12, after the speed of
machine 12 has exceeded a threshold speed (shown in the lower-right
side of the chart in FIG. 3 corresponding with last 6 seconds of
tracked messages). For example, the messages may be sent each time
machine 12 moves a particular distance (e.g., about 10 meters) or
every 2.0 seconds, which ever comes first. In this manner, a higher
speed of machine 12 may result in the position messages being sent
more frequently than the minimum threshold frequency. It is also
contemplated that a proximity of machine 12 to other machines 12 at
worksite 10 may have an effect on the frequency of the messages
being sent to OCC 32. For example, as two machines 12 move closer
to each other, both machines 12 may increase the frequency at which
their position messages are sent to OCC 32.
[0024] The position messages sent by communicating devices 24 to
OCC 32 may be unacknowledged messages. That is, OCC 32 may not send
a confirmation message back to each communicating device 24
acknowledging receipt of each position message. Instead, as will be
described in more detail below, each OC 26 may be required to
determine for itself that each position message has been correctly
received by OCC 32 based on subsequent location listing messages
multicast by OCC 32 to all machines 12 at worksite 10.
[0025] OCC 32 may receive the position messages from communicating
devices 24 of all machines 12 at worksite 10, update a location
listing of all machines 12 based on the position messages, and
multicast the location listing to all machines 12 at worksite 10.
OCC 32 may multicast the location listing at a minimum frequency
that is greater than the frequency of the position messages unicast
by OC 26 from each machine 12 (i.e., the location listing messages
may be multicast more often than the unicast position messages).
For example, the location listing messages may be multicast about
every 0.5 seconds (shown in the upper half of FIGS. 3 and 4).
[0026] The message multicast by OCC 32 may include a listing of the
most recent locations of all machines 12 that are actively
operating at worksite 10. In some embodiments, the location listing
may also include the locations of stationary objects, for example
infrastructure at worksite 10. It is contemplated that OCC 32 may
further be capable of unicasting messages to individual machines
12, if desired. These unicast messages may include, for example,
instructions and/or recommendations regarding control of the
individual machines 12.
[0027] After receiving the location listing from each multicast
message, OC 26 of each machine 12 may update an electronic map of
worksite 10 stored within the memory of OC 26, and display the map
on interface device 28. In addition, OC 26 may be configured to
affect autonomous operation of machine 12 and/or provide
instructions or recommendations to an operator of machine 12 based
on the updated map.
[0028] Every time the location listing is received from OCC 32 by
each individual communicating device 24, the associated OC 26 may
check the location listing to confirm that the position message
most recently sent by the corresponding communicating device 24 was
correctly received and multicast back by OCC 32. That is, each OC
26 may be configured to store in memory the most recently unicast
position of its corresponding machine 12, along with a
corresponding time stamp. Then, upon receiving a subsequent
location listing in the multicast message from OCC 32, each
individual OC 26 may compare both the current position listed for
its associated machine 12 and a time stamp from OCC 32 for that
position with the information stored in memory.
[0029] When the listed position of its associated machine 12 and/or
the time stamp of that listed position do not match the information
stored in memory, OC 26 may determine that the position message
previously unicast to OCC 32 was not correctly received (i.e., not
received at all or received with error), and cause communicating
device 24 to immediately send a new unicast message to OCC 32 that
includes the current location of its associated machine 12. In an
alternative embodiment, OC 26 may wait a threshold amount of time
before sending the new unicast message to OCC 32, for example an
amount of time that allows for confirmation from two or more
multicast messages that the previous position message was not
received correctly. This behavior may correspond, for example, with
a tracked time of about 7 seconds in the chart of FIG. 4. If OC 26
determines that the position messages are not being received
correctly after multiple attempts to resend the messages, OC 26 may
determine that tracking system 34 has malfunctioned. This behavior
may correspond, for example, with a tracked time of about 13
seconds in the chart of FIG. 4.
[0030] When OC 26 determines that tracking system 34 has
malfunctioned, OC 26 may implement corrective action. In the case
of autonomous or semi-autonomous machines 12, OC 26 may continue to
operate for a set period of time, for example about 20 seconds, and
then initiate machine shutdown procedures, in addition, OC 26 may
develop exclusionary zones around other machines 12 at worksite 10,
for example around any manned machines 12. When OC 26 determines
that the associated machine 12 has entered any of the exclusionary
zones, the corrective action may be implemented, regardless of the
time expired since loss of contact. In one embodiment, the
exclusionary zones may expand over time, for as long as tracking
system 34 is determined to be malfunctioning.
[0031] OCC 32 may be configured to determine when a particular
machine 12 is out of contact based on the frequency of position
messages being received from that machine 12. In particular, when a
position message from a particular machine 12 (i.e., from the
communicating device 24 of that machine 12) has not been received
for at least at threshold period of time, OCC 32 may determine that
it is not currently possible for the machine 12 to send the
position message, and indicate in the location listing that the
particular machine 12 is out of contact. In one embodiment, the
threshold period of time may be about 5 seconds.
[0032] When a particular machine 12 receives the multicast message
from OCC 32 indicating that the machine 12 is out of contact, OC 26
of that machine 12 may immediately unicast a position message with
the current location of the machine 12. If the machine 12 continues
to receive the same indication in the multicast message, even after
unicasting the additional position message(s), OC 26 of that
machine 12 may then implement the same corrective action described
above or another corrective action known in the art.
[0033] OCC 32 may be configured to determine a tong-term
communication status of each machine 12, and include the
communication status in the message multicast to all machines 12
(i.e., in the location listing sent to all machines 12). The
long-term communication status may include, among other things,
whether communicating device 24 is turned "on" or "off". OCC 32 may
determine that a particular communicating device 24 is turned "on"
or "off" based on comparison of an actual frequency of position
messages from the communicating device 24 relative to an expected
frequency. In particular, when OCC 32 stops receiving messages from
communicating device 24, and the position messages do not restart
within a threshold time period, OCC 32 may indicate within the
location listing that the status of the corresponding machine 12 is
"off". After listing the status of a particular machine 12 as being
"off" for an amount of time, OCC 32 may stop including the machine
12 in the listing altogether. Upon receiving a subsequent position
message from the particular machine 12, OCC 32 may restart listing
the machine and/or adjust the status in the location listing
accordingly.
[0034] During monitoring of the location listing multicast by OCC
32 to all machines 12, each OC 26 may also scrutinize information
regarding other machines 12. For example, each OC 26 may
continually check a status and location of all machines 12 at
worksite 10, so as to adjust operation of its corresponding machine
12 based on proximity to and/or trajectory of itself relative the
trajectories of the other machines 12. During this monitoring,
situations may arise where information in the location listing
stored in the memory of OC 26 does not match information in the
location listing multicast by OCC, 32. For example, the status
stored in memory for a particular machine 12 may not match the
status in the location listing for that machine 12. In this
situation, OC 26 may be configured to query OCC 32 regarding the
status of the particular machine 12. In response to the query, OCC
32 may be configured to unicast to the querying OC 26 or multicast
to all machines 12, a status confirmation and/or instructions
regarding the particular machine 12.
[0035] OC 26 of each machine 12 may be configured to perform
different operations based on information included in the location
listing regarding other machines of interest to its associated
machine 12 (i.e., regarding a subset of the machines 12 at worksite
10). The other machines of interest may include other machines 12
within a threshold proximity to the machine 12 of OC 26. OC 26 may
determine which machines 12 are machines of interest based on a
simple 2-dimensional comparison of locations of the other machines
12 (as included in the location listing) with interest zone
boundaries stored in memory, OC 26 may then be configured to adjust
operation of its machine 12 based on information regarding its
machines of interest, for example based on proximity, heading,
speed, type, etc. The operations may include instructions,
recommendations, and/or warnings provided to the operator of its
machine 12, and/or autonomous maneuvering of machine 12.
[0036] it is contemplated that worksite 10 may be divided into
regions, if desired, and the operation of each OC 26 and/or OCC 32
be affected by the distribution of machines 12 within the different
regions. For example, it may be possible for OCC 32 to multicast
different location listings to different regions of worksite 10,
each listing including only those machines 12 found within a common
region. Similarly, although the control module 20 of each machine
12 may be capable of receiving messages intended for different
regions, OC 26 of each control module 20 may be configured to only
process the message corresponding to the current region of its
corresponding machine 12. In these ways, the number of and/or
complexity of messages sent to any one region and/or processed by
any one OC 26 may be reduced. The disclosed tracking system may
provide an efficient way to communicate information between a fleet
of machines and a central controller. Specifically, because the
communications may be unacknowledged, a reduced number
communications may be required to sufficiently transmit
information. The number of communications may also be reduced
because the central controller may communicate simultaneously with
the machines via multicast messages. The simultaneous nature of the
multicast communications may also provide for quicker
communications between the controller and the machines, while also
requiring less bandwidth and reduced computing resources.
[0037] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed system.
Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from
consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosed
system. It is intended that the specification and examples be
considered as exemplary only, with a true scope being indicated by
the following claims and their equivalents.
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